Book Review: Soul Keeping by John Ortberg

Did you ever pray this prayer when you were a child:

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

Have you thought about having a soul? Some Baptist churches address asking Jesus to come into your heart but hardly any would say, "Jesus, save my soul." John Ortberg, in his latest book, Soul Keeping, affirms the Bible's teachings that everyone of us has a soul and that our soul is one that we must take care as one would take care of their own body.

Dr. Henry Cloud, in the forward, said, "This book will not only help you to realize that you have a soul, an interior life, and reveal its importance, but will also give you some tools and handles to grab as you develop that life" (pg. 11). Going back to that childhood prayer, one asks for the Lord to keep his soul, but in this book it is telling us that we need to be caring for our souls.

Ortberg attributes majority of this book to the memory of Dallas Willard who died last year and often quotes from various resources by Willard. The book begins with identifying what a soul is and how God made us to have a soul. Ortberg wrote about the effects of sin on the soul. Ortberg addresses the need of the soul for rest also that the soul needs a center which is God.

This book does contain scripture to support Ortberg's teachings but it had the feel of a self-help book. While it is important to keep a watch over oneself, we must never forget the power of the gospel. While, I have enjoyed some of Ortberg's past writings, this is was not one of my favorites.

Thanks BookLook Bloggers for letting me review this book.